Government or "Official" Scams In order to look official and panic recipients into clicking virus-infested links, some email scams will claim to have come from the Federal Government or a similar official agency. These emails often have the same tip-offs as most scam messages: words are misspelled, some of the grammar is incorrect or unusual, hovering over the links will show mismatched link and link text, and the message contains some sort of threat or need for immediate action.